White House Committing to Raising Taxes in Biden’s Forthcoming Budget: Press Secretary

Republicans criticize administration's proposal for 'massive tax increases'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing on Jan. 17, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden administration is committed to raising taxes for wealthy Americans as President Joe Biden is slated to propose his budget on March 9, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Speaking to reporters on March 8, Jean-Pierre said Biden’s budget is aimed at cutting the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade and noted that it would propose “tax reforms to ensure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share while cutting wasteful spending on special interests like Big Oil and Big Pharma.”

She also criticized the Trump administration’s focus on tax cuts by putting forward “a really irresponsible piece of legislation that gave tax breaks to the wealthy, especially millionaires and billionaires.”

“That is something that we have had to deal with, and we really have to call out,” Jean-Pierre said.

The press secretary was likely referring to the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which slashed taxes for individuals and businesses, increased the standard deduction and family tax credits, reduced the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty to zero, and cut corporate rates to 21 percent. Some congressional Republicans have said that they want to keep those cuts.

During the press briefing, Jean-Pierre didn’t go into specifics about Biden’s proposed budget. However, she said the budget is designed to “[make] the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.”

Her comments came in response to questions about the proposal that Biden unveiled on March 7 that would increase the Medicare tax rate to 5 percent from 3.8 percent for households that earn $400,000 or more each year. That tax increase would apply to both “earned and unearned income” that totals more than $400,000.

“Since Medicare was passed, income and wealth inequality in the United States have increased dramatically. By asking those with the highest incomes to contribute modestly more, we can keep the Medicare program strong for decades to come,” the White House stated on March 7.

It noted that “high-income” Americans are required “to pay a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on all of their income, but some high-paid professionals and other wealthy business owners have managed to shield some of their income from tax by claiming it is neither earned income nor investment income.”

The White House has stated that Biden will release his full budget during a trip to Philadelphia on March 9.

On March 7, Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden won’t raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year and won’t cut Medicare or Social Security benefits for seniors.

“The president ... is proposing to do the following: increase the Medicare tax rate on income above $400,000, close loopholes in existing Medicare taxes, and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for more prescription drugs,” she said.

In his State of the Union speech in February, Biden indicated that he would also propose a quadrupling of the stock buyback tax included in the Democrat-backed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The legislation implemented a 1 percent excise tax on corporations’ stock buybacks.

Republicans’ Response

After the White House’s latest promises to raise taxes on what it described as wealthy households, some Republicans said such policies would affect all Americans. Biden’s budget would have to clear the House of Representatives, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans.

“You know the president’s budget is replete with what they would do if they could—thank goodness the House is Republican—massive tax increases, more spending,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) told reporters.

Suggesting that the budget bill is dead on arrival, McConnell noted that “the American people can thank the Republican House” that the proposed tax increases “will not see the light of day.”

“Americans are going to feel the pinch of higher taxes. Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to lower income taxes for everyday Americans,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) wrote in a tweet. “Pres. Biden wants to get rid of those tax cuts because he thinks you’re not paying your fair share.”

House Republicans have said that they want to demand sharp cuts on spending on Biden’s initiatives and extend tax breaks passed under Trump. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told Reuters that Republicans are assembling a budget along the lines of a proposal by Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s budget chief.

“It is consistent with what’s in his budget,” Arrington said in an interview with the newswire service. The congressman, whose party controls the House, didn’t provide specifics of what cuts he would suggest to his fellow Republicans.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has vowed to not allow an increase in the $31.4 trillion legal limit on federal borrowing without an agreement from Democrats in Congress to rein in federal spending.

Reuters contributed to this report.